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Christmas spinning

Christmas Day in Aberdeen was lovely. Quiet, but very relaxing, and with some really mild weather as well. It was just the two of us this year, so for something not too big but a little more exciting than chicken, chef Gareth did a yummy roast duck. And to go with it, what he declares were his best roast potatoes ever. I certainly enjoyed it.

We popped into the pub for a Christmas drink, and then went for a wee walk. St Machar Cathedral was looking very heavenly from the other end of Seaton Park.

Later on, post food and pre Doctor Who, I felt like it was time for some spinning, after not having done any for ages. I went for the fibre tasters I got from Colorimetry at Glasgow School of Yarn, and spun up some bamboo and soy.

Here’s the soy on the spindle, in gorgeous colours

Finished soy

And bamboo

I love these purply bits in the bamboo

I think the bamboo was spun up a little more balanced than the soy. The soy felt a lot more fragile and ‘hairy’ so I felt the need to put in a lot of twist to keep it together, so there’s quite bit of kink going on. I love the silky-shininess of these fibres, but perhaps another time I’ll take the next step and try blending them with wool. I’ve also got a little batch of corn fibre, which looks a whole lot silkier and therefore slipperier (is that a word?), but it’ll be an adventure…

On the knitting front, one of my Christmas presents from Gareth was the Toilet Roll Covers book! I’d been eyeing this up for ages but never felt I could justify buying it, so it was the perfect present! He even got me yarn and felt to make the piggy one, even though it meant he had to wander through Hobbycraft clutching pink yarn. And despite always saying I have too much yarn (nonsense) he even got me double the amount required because he wasn’t sure if it would be enough. That’s love. (He knows how to read yarn bands now.)